City Discusses Offering City e-mail accounts to members of certain boards/commissions
OnFocus – City Administrator Steve Barg introduced the possibility of supplying City e-mail addresses to certain boards and commissions.
The subject was first broached in September 2019 during a presentation by Ed Miller of UWSP. The presentation covered council and members of committees, boards, and commissions on various topics, including ethics, conflict of interest, and open meetings/public records.
Shortly after that, a Council member asked that the City offer City e-mail accounts to those on committees, boards and commissions. This was considered by the Council on January 28, 2020. At that time, Council decided not to pursue this option. Recently a member of a commission asked that this idea be reconsidered, due to concerns related to Open Records requests.
“Interaction between staff and members of these bodies should be limited, and members should have little (if any) contact with one another or the general public,” Barg said. “But I’ve become increasingly aware of the level of scrutiny that may be faced by those serving on boards and commissions that have specifically defined authority apart from the City Council (as opposed to advisory committees). As a result, I believe that we should reconsider offering City e-mail accounts to these individuals. A list of affected boards and committees is still being developed at this time.”
The estimated expense involved with providing a City e-mail to members of boards/commissions:
- Expenses that would definitely be incurred:
- $50/user: standard client license ( one-time cost, until Exchange is upgraded)
- $16/user: e-mail archiving (annual cost)
- $26/user: virus protection ( every 3 years)
Total Cost: $41/user per year
- Expenses that could potentially be incurred:
- Tablet: Surface Pro 7 with keyboard = $1100 cost
- Server license (per tablet): $22/user (one-time cost, until server upgrade)
- Microsoft Office license (if new version requested): $350-$400 per license
- Smart phone: Possibly up to $400, plus $25-$40/month, based on data plan
- Other costs: Personnel costs for increased IT support ( difficult to estimate)
“I recommend Council authorization to develop a policy that allows for extension of City e-mail accounts to citizen members of specified citizen boards and commissions, and that this policy be brought forth to the FBP Committee and Council for review and approval,” said Barg, noting that while extending City e-mail accounts to citizen members of specified boards and commissions (e-mail archiving enabled) will help in fulfilling Open Records requests, the coverage would be limited to City e-mails only.
Use of other electronic communications would not be covered.
Alderman Tom Buttke requested more information on the subject. Alderman Ed Wagner said that he liked the idea of having a separation between the private and public.
“I can see where Plan Commission perhaps might have the need for doing that,” said Wagner. “The newly created Ethics Board would definitely have a need for that.”
Barg added that maybe the Utility Commission, Fire & Police Commission, and Board of Review might also be contenders for a City e-mail.
“I think that keeping bodies at that level apart from personal e-mails is a good idea,” said Barg.
Alderman Quentin Rosandich asked what other local municipalities do and Barg will bring that information back to the Council at a future date.
Alderman Ken Bargender and Peter Hendler emphasized the importance of training, noting that when people join committees and boards they need to know what their role is in keeping records.
This subject will be further discussed at a future meeting.
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Author: News Desk
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